INDENTURE CONVENANTS (Details)	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended						3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended						3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended				3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2010 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2010 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Issuer and Restricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2010 Issuer and Restricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Issuer and Restricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2010 Issuer and Restricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Issuer and Restricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Issuer and Restricted Subsidiary [Member] Less than [Member] times	Sep. 30, 2011 Issuer and Restricted Subsidiary [Member] Greater than [Member] times	Sep. 30, 2011 Unrestricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2010 Unrestricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Unrestricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2010 Unrestricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Unrestricted Subsidiary [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Intergroup Elimination [Member] USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2010 Intergroup Elimination [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Intergroup Elimination [Member] USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2010 Intergroup Elimination [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Intergroup Elimination [Member] USD ($)
Indenture Convenants [Line Items]
Coverage Ratio																	2.0	2.25
Restricted Payment amount	$ 115,600,000			$ 115,600,000			€ 80,000,000
Cash Remaining Balance Amount	5,600,000			5,600,000
Net revenues	165,472,000		134,354,000	587,900,000		479,721,000				165,513,000		133,735,000	584,889,000		478,823,000				0		737,000	3,092,000		2,681,000		(41,000)		(118,000)	(81,000)		(1,783,000)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	13,075,000		13,341,000	40,985,000		40,530,000				13,075,000		12,444,000	39,670,000		37,815,000				0		897,000	1,315,000		2,715,000		0		0	0		0
Amortization of Intangible Assets	7,957,000		6,996,000	23,393,000		18,690,000				7,957,000		6,996,000	23,393,000		18,690,000				0		0	0		0		0		0	0		0
Operating Income (Loss)	(12,910,000)		(25,345,000)	18,898,000		(19,026,000)				(12,821,000)		(17,152,000)	24,221,000		5,641,000				(89,000)		(8,183,000)	(5,323,000)		(24,621,000)		0		(10,000)	0		(46,000)
Net (loss) / income attributable to CME Ltd.	(82,074,000)		3,416,000	(102,220,000)		126,291,000				(82,000,000)		7,592,000	(91,801,000)		(127,134,000)				(74,000)		(4,166,000)	(10,419,000)		253,471,000		0		(10,000)	0		(46,000)
Cash and cash equivalents	167,417,000		302,905,000	167,417,000		302,905,000		244,050,000	445,954,000	161,794,000			161,794,000			219,789,000			5,623,000			5,623,000			24,261,000	0			0			0
Third Party Debt	1,342,511,000	[1]		1,342,511,000	[1]			1,359,784,000		1,342,511,000	[1]		1,342,511,000	[1]		1,359,330,000			0	[1]		0	[1]		454,000	0	[1]		0	[1]		0
Total assets	2,874,498,000			2,874,498,000				2,940,550,000		3,055,677,000			3,055,677,000			3,212,077,000			7,935,000			7,935,000			37,942,000	(189,114,000)			(189,114,000)			(309,469,000)
Total CME Ltd. shareholders' equity	$ 1,154,844,000			$ 1,154,844,000				$ 1,226,879,000		$ 1,335,534,000			$ 1,335,534,000			$ 1,493,511,000			$ 3,581,000			$ 3,581,000			$ (36,981,000)	$ (184,271,000)			$ (184,271,000)			$ (229,651,000)

[1] Third party debt is defined as credit facilities and capital leases or debt with entities that are not part of the CME Ltd. consolidated group.